She recalled talking to a surgeon from Newcastle who said that, because of the changes, one of the biggest hospitals in Gateshead may have to stop doing gullet cancer operations.

SNP member Dr Whitford said: “The guys who do the upper GI surgery, that is gullet cancer have been told that they are in danger of being told they cannot do gullet cancer because the fee they are being paid doesn’t cover how much it costs to do.” She added: “So this hospital, a big hospital in Gateshead, are thinking about unilaterally declaring ‘We don’t treat gullet cancer anymore’. What happens if every hospital in area does that?”

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But the claims are baseless. The only major hospital in Gateshead, the Queen Elizabeth I, does not offer gullet cancer operations.

All cancer operations in the North East of England are done at the specialist unit in the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle, which has an outstanding international reputation. “This is the biggest lot of crap I have ever heard,” said Sir Leonard Fenwick, the chief executive of the North East NHS foundation. “It is just codswallop.

“Newcastle has referrals from all over the UK and beyond. We are one of the biggest providers of cancer treatments in Europe.

“We have a very strong relationship with Scotland which we would hope to maintain.

“Whatever happens in a referendum, that is up to the people of Scotland, but it is outrageous to mislead the public at large with these kinds of claims.” Yesterday, breast cancer surgeon Dr Whitford, 55, from Ayrshire, admitted she had no proof of her allegations and hadn’t checked them out before making them.

“It is not something I have investigated,” she said. “It was simply on the basis of what this surgeon had told me in conversation. He said that was the talk in the hospital that he was starting in.”

The revelations are an embarrassment for Alex Salmond as he prepares to put the future of the NHS at the centre of tonight’s crunch TV debate with Alistair Darling. The First Minister has previously praised Dr Whitford and quoted her to support his claims the NHS could be in danger if there is a No vote in the referendum.

Earlier this month he said: “One of Scotland’s prominent breast surgeons, Dr Philippa Whitford — someone who, as far as I know, has never previously been involved in politics — has spoken out so articulately on the issue precisely because she can see the danger to the NHS in Scotland, which is the consequence of privatisation

Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont last night said: “This is the most shameful, blatant lie of the campaign.

“Alex Salmond lied when he said he had EU legal advice when he hadn’t. John Swinney said he was in discussions with the Bank of England on a currency union when he wasn’t.

“Now the Yes campaign are trying to scare cancer patients, the sick and the vulnerable with stories which are simply untrue.

“Alex Neil knows that the NHS in Scotland cannot be privatised – he said it himself.

“Nicola Sturgeon said the NHS in Scotland cannot be privatised.

“Alex Salmond’s decision to lie about the NHS being privatised is the most shameful thing I have seen in my time in Scottish politics.